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OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

December 2, 2018

Dwayne Haskins

Columbus, Ohio

Q. Dwayne, Ohio State's kind of started its Haskins for Heisman campaign today. Your coach has publicly said that you should be in New York, that he'd fly you there. Just how does it feel to have that support from your coach and from the school kind of starting the Heisman campaign for you?
DWAYNE HASKINS: It means everything to be able to have the support from the coaching staff and the players. For Coach to go up and be able to vouch for me the way he did just shows how much trust he has in me. Players have done a great job this year helping me out and helping me be elite. Just excited to be even considered for the award.

Q. When you look forward to the Rose Bowl -- I know you've already said you're going to play. Just what do you look forward to in the Rose Bowl of what you can accomplish in that game to finish out the season?
DWAYNE HASKINS: There's nothing really I have any expectations for going into the game. Rose Bowl has a great history. A lot of quarterbacks play in that game. It's a very rich tradition game. And looking forward to competing with my teammates.

Q. I know you've had a lot of self-confidence, quiet self-confidence in yourself, but has this year been beyond your expectations in terms of how you've played?
DWAYNE HASKINS: I wouldn't say it would be beyond my expectations. I've always wanted to be in this situation, worked really hard to get here. It's been everything to be able to go out there and compete and do the things that I've done this year. But I didn't really shock myself and feel like I couldn't achieve it. I just had to go out there and do it.

Q. The thing that you did yesterday, in terms of moving around the pocket, out of the pocket, and making those touchdown throws, a couple of them, how big a step is it for you to do that in that kind of situation?
DWAYNE HASKINS: I've always worked on that in the off-season and always felt it was part of my game. Had to show it against Northwestern -- a lot of drop eight coverage, a lot of time for me let receivers get open downfield, and that made a lot of great contested catches for me yesterday. Glad I was able to put that on film.

Q. When you talked about Tua and Kyler and your friendship with those guys going back for a while, if the three of you are together in New York, what would that mean to you?
DWAYNE HASKINS: It would mean the world. Quarterbacks, we all are the alpha males, and we all compete against each other at all the camps, and we all know about one another. To be able to -- Kyler coming out of high school was the best quarterback in the country. Tua was like a God. And to be able to be in the same conversation with them makes me feel like I put the work in to be considered the best quarterback in the country. I have much respect for those guys.

Q. You talked about keeping in touch with them, were you comparing numbers throughout the year, seeing who --
DWAYNE HASKINS: I wasn't comparing numbers. As I said before in another interview, just like asking Tua how he went 19 for 22 for 300 yards and four touchdowns was something that I just thought was crazy. And then, of course, Kyler with his passing and running dynamic and how elite an athlete he is. They're all fun to watch. Really happy for him.

Q. Dwayne, what's the first time you remember hearing the words Heisman Trophy?
DWAYNE HASKINS: For the season?

Q. No, just way back when you were a little guy.
DWAYNE HASKINS: Yeah, so this is a game called NCAA and Road to Glory. So every year I would be No. 7 for Ohio State, 6'4", 220, and I would go win every year I played. But we'll see how realistic that is this week.

Q. I just wanted to ask you, though. You paid attention to the Heisman, I would think, growing up. Do you feel you've had a Heisman Trophy-esque year? You know what it takes. It's winning. It's putting up big stats and stuff. Just what's your thought on that? Maybe a bit about being considered one of the eliters?
DWAYNE HASKINS: I feel like I did what I needed to do to give them my case to win the Heisman. Broke Drew Brees' touchdown record, broke Curtis Painter's single season passing record and did a lot of great things this year. It's not my choice of who gets to win the Heisman, but either way, I just wanted to be considered for it. If I win, I win. If I don't, getting ready for Washington. But just to be able to go to New York and show my kids one day that I was a finalist would mean the world to me.

Q. Obviously, your draft stock has risen a lot, especially with how you've played this season. Has there been any conversation if you possibly not playing in the Rose Bowl this year?
DWAYNE HASKINS: No, I'm playing in the game.

Q. And also, you talked about the road to glory and the NCAA football game. Do you wish that game still existed today maybe?
DWAYNE HASKINS: Yeah, I wish it was still there.

Q. I'm sorry if you were asked this in the press conference last night, but was that a Heisman pose you struck after you threw that touchdown pass to Johnnie?
DWAYNE HASKINS: Yeah, it was.

Q. How long were you planning that?
DWAYNE HASKINS: I wasn't planning it. I felt it was the right moment for me to do that. I tried to be low key with it, but that didn't work.

Q. The arm was a little down and not all the way up?
DWAYNE HASKINS: It wasn't a full on Heisman pose, but it's a cool picture to have one day.

Q. Dwayne, do you think, with what you and the coaches were able to do with this offense, how this offense worked this year, we talked to you about that a lot. Do you think you've changed Ohio State at all? Do you think you've laid down something that, hey, you know -- not that the next guy is going to be you, but that they can get another guy like you who can throw it and run this style of offense? Have you showed Ohio State something maybe?
DWAYNE HASKINS: Yeah, coming out of high school, I always voiced to coach and the offensive coordinator that I wanted to be in a passing offense. To be able to have that change this year and have a blueprint for whoever is playing when I get done playing to show we can throw the ball all over the field. I know Jack Miller voiced to me how happy he was with the progression of the offense.

The quarterback's dream is to sit back and pick a defense apart. I gave Coach Meyer the confidence to do that. I gave Coach Day and Coach Wilson an opportunity to call great plays for me and execute them. We just had a whole bunch of fun this year.

Q. Are you mad you didn't get to 500 last night?
DWAYNE HASKINS: I didn't know how close I was until after the fact, but I'll do it next game. So we'll see.

Q. Along what Doug was asking you about changing Ohio State, Urban admitted that having you as a quarterback caused him to rethink, I think he would say, some of his conceptions about offense. Did you notice your interactions with him being different as the year progressed? Did he seem more pleased with the talents that you brought to the table?
DWAYNE HASKINS: Yeah, anything with change takes time. Being a quarterback run-heavy offense, it was different for Coach to be able to adapt to calling a pass play on third and four. Trust takes time, and for him to be able to trust me in certain situations, to be able to throw a pass on the field on third and two would mean a lot for him, and I'm glad that I was able to give him that confidence this year to know he can rely on me in tough moments, whether that was with a running play or a passing play.

But with a passing offense, you have to be able to run the football. We learned how to over the course of the season, and I felt like I helped, as the season went on, with being more dynamic with my legs. Coach Meyer did a great job adapting.

Q. That wasn't the only way your relationship with Urban seemed to evolve. I mean, he went from, yeah, we'll talk about his Heisman chances later to I'm going to fly him to New York myself if necessary. Just are you closer now? How did that process play out for you?
DWAYNE HASKINS: I've always been close with Coach Meyer. He does a great job of keeping me humble and doesn't really give me too much praise. He always wants me to be the best quarterback in the country, whether he voiced that anybody or not. He always pushed me to be better every day, whether that was with being a quarterback or being a leader or being a better academic student or a person.

Coach Meyer is a fantastic person, fantastic coach, and I'm proud that he was able to put so much time into me.

Q. Can I follow up on that real quick? I thought that at times this year that Urban would hold back on the praise for you at times. Did it seem like he was trying to push you more? Is that how that relationship works, that he wants to do that to keep driving you?
DWAYNE HASKINS: Yeah, everyone sees how well we do on offense, and the last thing he wanted to do was for me to get big headed, and he didn't want me to stop getting better. It was my first year starting, only a few games starting playing, and the last thing he wanted me to do was for me to stop thinking of my teammates, stop thinking of the coaches, and think it was all about me. So he did a great job with that.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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